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OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to develop a Turkish-specific speech recognition test, considering phonemic balance, homogeneity, and familiarity criteria. MATERIALS and METHODS:The most frequently used Turkish monosyllabic words were selected from the corpus. Thirty-six young adults with normal hearing were divided into two groups and asked to listen to words from the word pool; the words were given twice at six different intensity levels. The least and most frequently known words were identified and eliminated in order to provide homogeneity. Three word lists, each composed of 50 phonemically balanced words, were developed to be used in the tests. These lists were divided into two according to the phonemic balance criteria. RESULTS:No statistically significant difference was found among the word lists. Furthermore, the internal reliability of each list was analyzed using KR-20 and was found to be above 98% for all lists. CONCLUSION:The lists derived from the Turkish language were ascertained to be appropriate for use. As a result of using the developed lists to test individuals with various auditory pathologies, it will be possible to assess the lists' capability to distinguish pathological cases according to the location of the pathology.

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Background: Wide-band tympanometry (WBT) was introduced as a beneficial diagnostic test for Ménière’s disease (MD) almost 15 years ago. However, an acute episode of MD has not been evaluated by using WBT yet. Objective: To investigate WBT findings in patients with MD during acute attacks. Method: Thirty definite MD patients with unilateral acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss and aural fullness, and thirty age- and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled prospectively in a tertiary referral center. Ears were divided into three groups as follows: (1) affected ears of MD patients, (2) contralateral ears of MD patients, (3) control ears. Individuals underwent WBT. The resonance frequency (RF), mean absorbance value, mean low- and high-frequency absorbance values (LF-A and HF-A), and double peak width at 2 kHz of conductance tympanometry (2-kHz PW) were assessed. Results: Seventy percent in group 1, 66.7% in group 2, and 78.3% in group 3 demonstrated double peaks at 2 kHz. The mean 2-kHz PW values were 157.52 ± 79.19, 177.40 ± 79.14, and 139.64 ± 87.501 daPa for groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. There were no significant differences between groups with respect to 2-kHz PW, RF, absorbance, LF-A, and HF-A. Conclusion: This was the first study that evaluated the effects of acute Ménière attacks on WBT findings. An acute Ménière attack was found to have no significant effect on the 2-kHz PW and other variables measured using WBT.

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